Cable feeding arrangement



March 6, 1962 G. WANINGER CABLE FEEDING ARRANGEMENT Original Filed Dec. 30, 1955 INVENTOR. /{erf' fi am'n e United States Patent Claims priority, application Germany Jan. 5, 1955 2 Claims. (Cl. 191-12) The present invention relates to an electric cable feeding arrangement for feeding current to movable consumers, for instance to cranes and the like. For this purpose, sliding contact lines have been employed which, however, cannot be used in many instances so that the current has to be fed through a cable one end of which is anchored or held stationary while the other end of the cable is connected to the crane. To this end, cable reels are employed which, however, require special servicing. If the movement of the crane is limited to a certain path or distance, also trailing cables are employed one end of which is connected to the end of the respective track while the other end is connected to the crane. The intermediate portions of such trailing cables are suspended on cable reel trailers. Such arrangements have the drawback that there is considerable friction between the cable and the supporting rollers or the like so that an undue Wear of the cable is unadvoidable. Furthermore, the known arrangements require rails or special tracks on which the track rollers or wheels are running.

This application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 556,604, filed December 30, 1955, now abandoned.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a cable feeding arrangement for the above mentioned purposes which will overcome the drawbacks set forth above.

It is another object of this invention to provide a cable feeding arrangement in which the cable need not rotate the supporting rollers or the like so that the wear of the cable is considerably reduced.

It is another object of this invention to provide a cable feeding arrangement in which the cable will be completely relieved of pulling forces.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly from the following specification in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a section of a cable feeding arrangement according to the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic section taken along the line II-II of FIG. 1.

FIGURE 3 is a diagrammatic section according to that oflFlG. 2 with an additional guiding and securing channe.

General Arrangement The deviating and supporting rollers for the cable with the additional pulling means have the same diameter as the runners or track wheels of the cable reel trailer. Such an arrangement brings about that the cable does not have to rotate the supporting rollers or the like so that practically no wear of the cable will occur inasmuch as the cable will have the same speed as the deviating and supporting rollers associated therewith. The practical design of such cable feed may vary according to the desired requirements. Thus, for instance, the deviating and supporting rollers may at the same time form the runners for the cable reel trailers so that a very simple construction will be obtained. Advantageously, two cables with their additional pulling means are employed which from a common stationary connecting point are in opposite direction with regard to each other passed over the two deviating rollers at the ends of tthe cable reel trailer. When the movable consumer is displaced, through one of these pulling means the entire cable reel trailer is trailed at half the speed, i.e. over half the distance of the movement of said movable consumer. During this movement, the other pulling means is deposited by its deviating roller upon the respective depositing surface. Thus, the cable reel moves over half the distance over which the movable consumer is being moved. The total distance over which the cable reel trailer moves is therefore in the most unfavorable instance by the diameter of the supporting roller greater than the maximum distance over which the movable consumer moves.

In order to relieve the cable of pulling forces supporting and holding means are provided in which each cable is inserted and which serve as guiding rail.

In order to guide properly the cable reel trailer over a longer distance, according to a further development of the invention, an additional guiding channel can be provided which serves at the same time as securing channel for the operator.

Structural Arrangement Referring now to the drawings in detail, the arrangement shown therein comprises a cable 2 which from a stationary connecting point 1 passes over the end or deviating roller 3a to the displaceable consumer 4 for instance a crane. From the same stationary connecting point 1, a further cable 6 is passed in opposite direction around the other end or deviating roller 3b and over an intermediate supporting roller 3 to the displaceable consumer 4. The rollers 3a and 3b as well as the rollers 3 of which any desired number may be employed are coupled to each other through a connecting rod system 5 in spaced arrangement in such a way that the passage of the cables 2 and 6 resting on the supporting rollers will be properly confined. By means of the spanner or turnbuckle 7 arranged in said connecting rod system 5, the rollers are spaced so that the two cables 2 and 6 will with a certain play or without play rest around the cable reel trailer 8 which comprises the intermediate rollers 3, the end rollers 3a and 3b, the connecting rod system 5, and the spanner or turnbuckle 7.

When the displaceable consumer 4 moves along a straight line, for instance toward the right, the entire cable reel trailer will by means of the left cable 2 move at half the speed of movement of said consumer 4 so that it will move over half the way over which the consumer 4 moves. During this movement, the cable 6 will pass around and under end roller 3b onto the surface 9. The cable will move correspondingly in the reverse direction when the displaceable consumer 4 moves toward the left.

For the purpose to relieve the cables from pulling stress, the cables are inserted in and carried by flexible cable guide means 14a and 14b which absorb the entire pulling force. These guide means are looped around the end rollers 30, 3b and supported by the supporting rollers 3. The lower strand of the guide means 14a, 14b, being deposited on the surface 9, serves as guiding rail as shown best in FIGS. 2 and 3.

In order to guide the cable reel trailer properly over a longer distance an additional channel consisting of two lateral parts 15a, 15b can be provided. This channel protects at the same time the operator during the displacement of the trailer.

It is, of course, understood that the present invention is, by no means, limited to the particular construction shown in the drawings but also comprises any modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In an electric cable feeding arrangement for feeding current to a movable consumer: electric cable means,

one end of saidcable means being connected to a fixed point and the other end ofsaid cable means being connected to said movable consumer, a movable trailer provided with a series of spaced apart roller means comprising track roller means, flexible guide means supported by said roller means and being looped around the end rollers of said series of roller means, said cable means being enclosed within said flexible guide means and extending coaxially therewith for at least that part of said flexibleguide means which passes around one end of said roller means to relieve said cable of the force for moving said trailer, said flexible guide means passing under said roller means to provide a supporting rail therefor.

2. In an electric cable feeding arrangement for feeding current to a movable consumer: electric cable means, one end of said cable means being connected to a fixed point andthe other end of said cable means being connected to said movable consumer, a movable trailer provided with a series of spaced apart roller means comprising track roller means, flexible guide means supported by said roller means and being looped around the end rollers of said series of roller means, said cable means being enclosed within said flexible guide means and extending coaxially therewith for at least that part of said flexible guide means which passes around one end of said roller means to relieve said cable of the force for moving said trailer, said flexible guide means passing under said roller means to provide a supporting rail therefor, said movable trailer running in a channel consisting of two lateral parts.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,866,681 Taylor July 12, 1932 2,864,907 Waninger Dec. 16, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 643,563 Germany Apr. 12, 1957 

